When I made a reservation at Mua restaurant in Vietnam, I wasn¡¯t sure what awaited me. After days fueled by mostly banh mi sandwiches, I was ready for something different.

Set in the vegetable gardens of Tra Que, a 10-minute taxi ride from the UNESCO-listed town of Hoi An, the restaurant wants to let Vietnamese produce speak for itself.

Mua also manages Mua Craft Sake, a sake brewery established in Ho Chi Minh City in 2022. The restaurant¡¯s house-brewed sake was impossible to ignore. A sake flight, which consisted of the flagship junmai (sake with no added distilled alcohol) and two flavored sake, was served alongside dishes such as rice paper parcels, betel leaf tempura and scallops.